Purdue vs VA Tech (Engineering)

[Anonymous]

Would love to know what the OP ended up with? We are in a similar situation for our son for 2026 enrollment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If leaning towards aerospace engineering, go with Purdue. If in-state, go with Virginia Tech

+1. This

[Anonymous]

what about umich in the mix?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you again for all your kind replies.

Forgot to mention that as we live in VA, VA-Tech would be in-state tuition rate while Purdue would be OOS, but hope is to receive some form of financial support which would at least partially bridge the gap. If the difference is around $5k per year and Purdue is considerably better, we could swing that....understanding that extra distance would also increase transportation expenses to/from Purdue.

Use of terms like “considerably better” or “much better” are way overdone here. Rankings are ordinal, not interval.

Purdue is not objectively “considerably better” than Virginia Tech for engineering. It could be subjectively better for your kid. But the same could apply to most any other school too.

Not true. Purdue is considerably better. Are you a practicing engineer? Do you hire engineers? Engineering has tiers and Purdue is in a tier above VT.

Disagree. I am a hiring manager for engineering and CS. Both Purdue and VT are very good. My experience is that both work out equally well on the job doing technical engineering work. What does make a difference on the job in my experience is whether the student took more challenging upper-level in-major electives. We would pay students with similar coursework from either program either the same or a very similar starting salary.

ABET means all engineering programs are solid and rigorous. Most STEM employers, including top tech firms, know this.

Look at net cost, fit, and graduation rate when choosing colleges. Best college for one student might not be the best for a different student.

[Anonymous]

Purdue has 2 campuses - I would rate them the following for general engineering under grad:

Purdue West Lafayette > VTech > Purdue Indianapolis

There is nothing specifically wrong with the Indianapolis location other than the fact that it is smaller and opportunities for research and clubs are more limited.

Bottom line - can't go wrong either way so enjoy the indecision until you decide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Purdue has 2 campuses - I would rate them the following for general engineering under grad:

Purdue West Lafayette > VTech > Purdue Indianapolis

There is nothing specifically wrong with the Indianapolis location other than the fact that it is smaller and opportunities for research and clubs are more limited.

Bottom line - can't go wrong either way so enjoy the indecision until you decide

WL and Indy are ONE campus---but I know the word on the street isnt the same, we accidentally applied to indy and are in, now they are most likely going to UMich...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You didn’t raise it, OP, but my aerospace engineering kid had these choice plus GA Tech and UVA. He chose UVA (great engineering program! Don’t listen to the naysayers who don’t know what they are talking about) Anyhow, I raise it only because your DC should be in a place where they can transfer out should they decide to do so. Engineering is a tough major. Our DC switched out of aerospace engineering to college of arts & sciences at end of first year and is now in a T3 law school coming well. 80 percent of students change their major at least once. My advice is to pick a school that offers the most flexibility

Agree pick UVA or GT over Purdue and VT for sure, but pick Ivies or Stanford Engineering over UVA and GT.
OP only has Purdue and VT: Pick Purdue for now and hope for something even better.